A production engineering network is a computer representation of the physical reality of an oilfield network that is used by oilfield operators to calculate hydraulic flows and predict events and conditions such as pipeline bottlenecks, compressor underutilization or flaring overflow. To maximize its accuracy and usefulness, a production engineering network model should be kept current, with the computer representation synchronized with the actual physical network on the ground. This is a time consuming effort, which requires considerable manual entry from sources such as “as built” drawings that may be difficult to obtain if the oilfield network is run by different operators. Therefore, synchronization may not be performed as often as required to keep the production engineering network current with the actual physical network. This is especially true for rapidly changing networks, such as coal bed methane or shale gas, where a new well may be drilled and added to the physical network in as little as a week or even less. If the production engineering network is not kept current, then performance models could fall behind and under-optimization may result.
Besides production engineering networks, oilfield operators may also use other computer models and databases to operate and record information regarding an oilfield network. Production allocation networks are another representation of the physical network, but unlike production engineering networks, production allocation networks are used to track the sources of production from the wells all the way back down to the individual reservoirs. Thus they are used primarily on the financial side of the operation. A production allocation network may not contain all the information that would be provided in a production engineering network, but because of regulatory compliance and other business considerations, the production allocation networks are normally kept up to date as each new well comes online and starts producing. Therefore, there is a need for methods and systems to improve the synchronization of production engineering networks.